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iLoveToCreate Blog

Tis the season of sweatshirts. They are warm and comfy, but lordy, they look so frumpy. I love that I've seen other chicas take a pair of scissors to them to alter them in a more fashionable way. I wanted to get in on the fun, but I needed to find a way to make my design appear appealing for my plus-size bod. Here's what I came up with!

This is what I started with. I never know where a project will go once I start, I often end up adding in more supplies, as you'll see in a bit.

1. Cut your sweatshirt! I cut the neckline, the sleeves and I cut that gawd-awful band off of the bottom.

2. Use painter's tape to keep a guideline for your sparkles. I used the Crystal Adhesive in dots to apply the crystals. You can also use the Tulip Cordless Heat Setting Tool if you want! Fill in with crystals.

3. OK, this is where I took a little turn. I wanted MORE volume, but not too much more sparkle. I called in my little friends...

Wahoo! It's that fun time of year where we decorate ornaments, bake yummy goodies and shop our brains away. But, if you are like me then you just bake and decorate because I am all about homemade things. The only time I buy something is if I truly can't "make" it! How funny is that. I wanted to show you today how to bedazzle some ornaments and add a tad bit of color to them. They almost look soft and delicate with a twist of FUN!

I think I love Christmas for one very distinct reason... It is totally acceptable to have everything in your home covered with glitter. In fact, it's highly encouraged! So I decided to bling out a pair of paper mache cones I had in my craft stash!

Since we're working with glitter and decoupage, and I doubt you want glitter in all of it, pour some into a little container to work from. Add to it as needed while the project progresses.

And in case you were wondering, you can use matte, glossy or whatever you have on hand.

Brush on some of your decoupage. and then glitter over it. Work in small sections as the decoupage will dry more quickly than you can cover the entire cone.

Take a minute to look for any areas you may have missed with the glitter. Apply a small amount of decoupage and re-glitter. Allow to fully dry, then spray with your acrylic sealer to help prevent too much of your glitter from falling off.

As far as embellishments go, you have tons and tons of options. I like to purchase earrings at one of those only a dollar jewelry stores to add to my stash for quick-y, bling-y embellishments so I had a bunch of those on hand. Plus I pulled some unworn and inexpensive costume jewelry from my jewelry box. Then I also grabbed some unused rhinestone chain and beads out of my craft stash! Talk about making use of unused crafty things!

Now, if using earrings, use a pair of pliers to pry the clip on or stud out to ensure a nice, smooth fit like you see in the image above.

Use your glue to tacky glue to attach your jewels...

and chains and beads.

Looks good, but I think this fella' needs a friend!

I made one in gold and one in silver for nice contrast on my shelf!

On the gold one I used some glitter left over from when my nephews were here because it is what I had that was gold. It's bigger and chunkier. On the silver, I used Tulip Fashion Glitter and I have to say, I prefer the results significantly.

Because I used this project as a stash buster, this only cost me about $5 for the paper mache cones but they look so much more expensive than that, don't they!?

Thanks so much for checking out my latest iLoveToCreate crafty tutorial and I hope you have a happy holidays and a fantastic December!

If you're down for a whole lot more Christmas crafts, I hope you'll check out my blog Dream a Little Bigger. Thanks so much for reading!

Decorating for Christmas is so fun, but it can also get a little pricey. I don't like to spend a lot of money on things that will only be up for a month, so I made this paper Christmas tree for almost nothing.

I had some thick brown paper that was on the inside of the wrapping paper roll I had purchased. I rolled it into a cone and taped it.

Then I trimmed off the bottom so it would be even and sit on the table correctly.

Next I cut a whole lot of scallops out of my paper.

I applied the Aleene's tacky line rolls to the paper and removed the plastic backing.

I stuck it to the cone. Now, because the papers were straight and the cone is rounded the top of the paper will be wrinkled when attached to the cone level. It's not a big deal because you'll cover that up with more paper.

I continued up the tree until it was finished. (Tip: As the cone gets smaller it's helpful to use smaller strips of paper to keep them level.)

Make it in any color scheme you like or in any size and you have a fun decoration for almost nothing.

This first week of December is always crazy - lots of festivals, online orders and gifts to make for friends. Instead of spending a lot of money on new supplies, I combed through my stash to find what I had a lot of. I came across a plastic bin full of little wood pieces. I immediately thought of painting, glueing and glittering them into necklaces and bracelets. I love how they turned out! Here's is my tutorial so you can do it too, they make great little gifts to pass out to friends and family!

This year I decided to broaden my children's holiday horizons. They only know about Santa, stockings and trees. I thought a little chat about a Menorah this year was in order. Better yet, this is the kind of Menorah your kids can help make. Since this was a very special Hanukkah landing on Thanksgiving it seemed like the perfect turkey day craft.

What you'll need:

– 9 LED Candle Lights

– Glue gun

– Blue Scribbles Paint

– 8 Toilet Paper Rolls

– 1 Paper Towel Roll

– Paint Brush

– White Crafty Chica Craft Paint

– Silver Tulip Fashion Glitter

To give my toilet paper and paper towel rolls the look of candles I went around the top edges with my glue gun making drips. I saw lot's of projects doing this at Halloween so I decided to give it a Chanukah twist.

After my hot glue cooled I painted the rolls white. After the paint dried I went in and added a coat of Sparkle Collage Pauge. while the Collage Pauge was wet I sprinkled on silver glitter. For an extra festive feel I added blue polka dots.

When all the paint was dry I stuffed a little paper into the tubes to help them keep their shape and hold the candles up. Next, I turned on my LED flickering tea lights and popped them into the tubes.

When you display your candles you want your tallest one in the center this is called your shamash. Next you want to put 4 smaller candles on each side.

Not counting your shamash you light a new candle each night of Hanukkah. I'll let you look up the details and learn all about it. What I know is that like any holiday this is a fun and easy one to get the kids involved in!

It's officially ornament crafting season! And here on our blog, we have over 10 awesome DIY ornament projects to get you in the decorating mood! Whip up some of these for your next snow day or ornament party...they are quick, easy, and a BALL of fun!

Looking for a fun fashion DIY? Look no further than our blog for some pretty DIYs to help spice up your wardrobe! These are just 60+ of the wonderful DIYs from our wonderful team of DIY bloggers! Leave a comment below and let us know your favorite -or- tell us what Fashion DIY you would like to see! OK, on with the show!

Before the snowflakes invade, I'm still celebrating the last of the fall foliage. The leaves are so beautiful this time of year in Brooklyn. I was up in New England for peak color, but even the last few weeks in Brooklyn have yielded a lovely array of color and variety. Of course, no matter how you try to keep them, the color fades, and they become dry and brittle. Here are three projects with a common autumnal theme that, like the snowflakes I made and painted last year, help make nature last a little longer.

INSPIRATION 1: DIY Leaf Stencil

This one starts with your basic stencil...

What you need:-variety of Tulip soft paints and/or Tulip 3D Fashion Paints (in shades of red, orange, and yellow)-Tulip sponge brushes and/or Tulip sponge pouncers-variety of pressed leaves for inspiration-sheet of card stock (or scrap manila folder)-pen or pencil-scissors or craft knife and cutting mat-plain T-shirt (lighter colors work best, but white is not required!)-paint palette (or a plastic container from the recycling bin)-scrap paper (optional) for inserting between the layers of a T-shirt

Trace the leaf onto the center of the card stock.

Cut out the center of your tracing.

Place scrap paper between the layers of the T-shirt, to keep the paint from bleeding through. Hold the stencil, centered, on the front of the T-shirt and use the brush to lightly start adding paint. Dab the brush, rather than making broad strokes--any brushstrokes should be made from the stencil edge onto the fabric (so that paint doesn't get caught underneath the edge of the stencil and bleed).

Apply each color as desired, then lift the stencil, let dry, and remove the scrap paper.

You're ready to wear your single leaf...

...or a different one, if you're more into oak...

...or a variety, if you can't choose just one...

...or just jump in a whole leaf pile!

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INSPIRATION 2: Reverse Leaf Stencil

This is the same concept as the stencil out of card stock, but you're instead using freezer paper as your mask, and painting the space around the leaf shape.

What you need:-variety of Tulip Fabric Sprays (in shades of red, orange, and yellow)-variety of pressed leaves for inspiration-sheet of freezer paper-pen or pencil-scissors or craft knife and cutting mat-iron and ironing board-plain T-shirt or onesie (lighter colors work best, but, again, white is not required!)-scrap paper (optional) for inserting between the layers of a T-shirt and to protect your work surface from paint

Just trace a variety of pressed leaves onto freezer paper and cut them out. Iron the paper leaves, shiny side down, onto the front of the shirt (white on white is hard to see, but they're there!).

Lay the shirt on a bed of scrap papers (holiday catalogs are perfect!) before you spray the fabric paint over it.

Lightly spray the fabric paints over the shirt, starting with the lightest color (yellow), then add orange and red.

Like the reverse leaf stencil, you're using the actual leaf shape (rather than the negative space) to create your decoration. The best part about this one? No waiting around during drying time--since there is no drying time!

Simply trace the leaf onto the smooth side of the glitter sheet and cut it out. Center and iron the glitter leaf onto the bib (or T-shirt or onesie), smooth side down. As soon as it adheres, the bib is ready to go for baby's first Thanksgiving!

Check out Generation-T.com next week for one more way to use autumn leaves as inspiration for decorating fabric!

Add some sparkle to the holidays by creating a fun Holiday Gold Bow T-Shirt DIY using the easy to use Tulip Iron-On Transfer Sheets. With all your holiday running around and shopping to do, it’s easy to just throw on a t-shirt and go. But why not add some sparkle and a festive bow to keep those errands from becoming too dull and help spread some festive cheer! This is a simple and quick way to create your own t-shirt designs to wear for the holidays and they’d make great gifts too!

Draw out your design on a piece of paper or use a stencil if you have one.

step 2

Trace around your design on your Tulip Iron-On Transfer Sheet.

You’ll need to use a pen for this to make sure you can see your lines.

step 3

Cut out your design carefully to make sure you don’t see your pen lines.

step 4

Place your design on your t-shirt where you want it.

Lay your cloth over your design and press with your iron.

Keep moving your iron around for about a minute to make sure your design is set.

Make sure you use a dry setting on your iron, NO STEAM.

Check your design to make sure it is all secure and adhered to your t-shirt. If you need to you can iron it more to make sure it’s secure.

These Tulip Iron-On Transfer Sheets are so easy to use. I was really surprised at how well (and quickly) they attached to the t-shirt. It was really simple. You can use these to make so many fun graphic T-Shirts to wear yourself or give as gifts.

Thanks for stopping by our creative home, where you'll find lots of cool project ideas from our team of designers and our super creative collaborators! We hope it inspires you to try a new DIY project or crafty technique today!